Female genital mutilation “comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” (Female genital mutilation, Februrary) FGM leads to infertility, bleeding during, pain sexual intercourse, and sometimes causes death. I found different possible origins for Female genital mutilation but it can be date as far back as the 5th century B.C in Egypt.  Nearly 90 percent of Sudanese woman go through this procedure every year. They say encourages hygiene for Sudanese woman, men think highly of women who are circumcised, and it makes the bride price higher.  With the bride price being high it will help poor families with the additional income. Some Sudanese say it also has to do with their religion who Muslims and say the Koran says woman should be circumcised. In 2008 WHO passed a resolution to put end to FGM.UNICEF and the National Organization for Women (NOW) are trying to stop FGM. These are organizations are to make people know the consequences of FGM through support, research, and guidance.

Professor Ellen Gruenbaum did research in Sudan where FGM is way more common. Her research showed that the more western civilization got involve there was more the Sudanese resist to change. “Gruenbaum shows that the practices of female circumcision are deeply embedded in Sudanese cultural traditions – in religious, moral and aesthetic values, and in ideas about class, ethnicity and gender” (PANEL: Medical Anthropologist Speaks on Abolishing Female Circumcision, 2012). Professor Gruenbaum research shows how to take a different approach to stop FGM in Sudan.  She wants to bring to light both the reception and the confrontation to change. Gruenbaum says it happens because of social and financial changes, religion influences, and woman not being educated about FGM. “ Gruenbaum seeks to provide an insightful analysis of the process of changing this complex, highly debated practice”. (PANEL: Medical Anthropologist Speaks on Abolishing Female Circumcision, 2012)

Works Cited

PANEL: Medical Anthropologist Speaks on Abolishing Female Circumcision. (2012, September 29). Retrieved from http://www.peacewomen.org/news_article.php?id=179&type=event

Female genital mutilation. (Februrary, 2012). Retrieved from Who Health Organization: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/

http://www.sudantribune.com/Female-genital-mutilation-still,12647

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5996/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1899

Acne is a very much medicalized in western culture and advertisement has mad it’s a medical illness that needs medicine. Cultural influences like media and popular culture are what I believe reframed it into illness. In the media you seem people with “flawless” skin which instills the belief the viewer’s skins show be as immaculate as the person TV. Anytime there are countless number of commercials shown for acne treatments.. It’s not even seen as part of a teen’s life anymore but as an illness that needs to be taken of fast. I heard before with the acne treatments that are out there no one should have it anymore. Acne treatment companies make billions of dollars selling their products and millions are spent and advertisement. Also celebrities are a major part of getting people to buy acne treatments. “Jessica Simpson was paid six figures alone to appear in Pro Activ commercials to help convince the consumer.  The company spends about $125 million a year buying time for its infomercials on channels like VH1 and MTV as well as Web sites like Facebook”. (Acne, the Billion Dollar Business Analyzed)

The advertisement I chose to analyze is commercial the acne treatment Skin ID who has the famous celebrity actress Hayden Panettiere as a spokesperson. The advertising strategy is having the Hayden talk to the audience on a personally level and she even reveals her skin id. They also have testimonies for the general population so you can it doesn’t just work for a celebrity but it can work for anybody. The cultural ideology is that anyone can have clear skin if they just buy this product. Also it also speaks on the cultural value of having clear skin. The social roles show that having acne is unacceptable and show be treated at any cost. The commercial presents medical information through charts and comparing it to the Proactiv. The Skin ID showed dermatologist talking about how good the product. They have people who use Skin ID: they talk about how it helped them and show their before and after pictures.

Works Cited

Acne, the Billion Dollar Business Analyzed. (n.d.).

http://focusacne.com/acne-is-a-business

I am huge fan of the show True Life and have watched all the episodes they have produced. True Life: I’m allergic to everything are about two young people dealing with the never ending allergies. Raelyn is a seventeen year old female who was recently diagnosed with idiopathic anaphylaxis. She has petrifying allergic reactions basically to any kind of food she consumes.  Her condition causes her to go into anaphylactic shock and most of time leads her be hospitalize. Raelyn keeps Benadryl and epi pens on hand to suppress the reaction from getting worst.  End the end Raelyn goes to college and chose to go see homeopathic doctor since biomedicine hasn’t not seemed to work. Choosing the homeopathic doctor helps her out at the end. Zeke is a sixteen male  who has been diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis which is when the body sends at white blood cells to attack his throat if he eats anything he is allergic to. In the beginning the video he is any allowed to any seventeen different types of food. Zeke also has to drink hefty amounts of unrefined tasting formula to get the nourishment his body needs. Throughout the episode he goes through food trials hoping to expand his limited food group and reduce his formula intake. At the end he gets to enjoy bacon in a long time but his intake has increased.

The Quest narrative is the one I picked because it seem to go perfect with I’m allergic to everything video. Lecture 2 says with quest narrative the illness is seen as a journey and “opportunity to improve themselves”. Raelyn and Zeke believe in the future their illness will not have such a hold on their lives. The episode being showed on MTV has made their illness a shared narrative.

There was really no know stigma involving them but their illness was not understand many people.

Raelyn and Zeke both do take on some aspects of the sick role like going to the doctor to help with their symptoms.  They don’t use their illness to get out of responsibilities they do their best to make sure their illness does not get in the way.

The second lecture talks about the illness narrative and the benefits for the patients, family, and health providers. The patient also known as the suffer can make more sense of their illness and having a feeling empowerment. For the ones who listen like doctors, friends and family can have a better understand of what the suffer is going through.

The article I chose to write about is called “Obesity as a culture-bound syndrome” by Cheryl Ritenbaugh.She talks about how obesity in the United States fits the definition of culture bound syndrome. Ritenbaugh says how obesity in other socialites is considered to be a sign of beauty and wealth. While in the USA it’s not considered to be healthy and can cause many health problems. It’s actually considered to be epidemic and a disease. “The  association  of massive  fatness  with  poor  health  that  had  been recognized for  hundreds  of  years  led  insurance  companies  in  the  U.S.,  at  the  turn  of the century,  to  begin  to  charge  higher  rates  to  extremely fat individuals”. (Ritenbaugh) She goes on to say “western culture shapes biomedical thinking can be seen in the obesity research literature”. (Ritenbaugh) . The article states that obesity is a cultural issue and western culture obsession with being thin. It’s says that the media plays a major role in the weight standards especially for woman. “It seems likely that thinness as a culturally valued commodity is related to the value placed on youth”. (Ritenbaugh)

The biological dimensions of obesity can be individuals in genetics or it can simply be consuming too much high-fat or high-calorie food. The cultural dimensions of obesity it can be the surroundings and the socioeconomic status. For example McDonald’s dollar has hardly anything healthy on it but it’s cheaper than the salad they sale. Most people would most likely go with the cheaper item than the more expensive one.  For individuals obesity can something genetic for them but it’s something that they can helped with diet and exercise. Some people don’t see obesity as a health issue so they chose to stay the way there are.

Obesity is being treated in many ways across the sectors in USA. There are diet pills, exercise equipment, weight loss programs, surgeries, diet foods, and behavioral therapy. It depends on the individual if they which route or routes to take. Americans spend billions of dollars a year on these different methods to lose weight. Despite all this money many people are still considered obese.

Bibliography

Ritenbugh, C. (n.d.). Obesity as a culture-bound syndrome. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/content/r2434r5278261km7/fulltext.pd

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8393658.htm

I did not do as good on the quiz as I thought I would I got a 5/10. They were a couple of statistics that were surprising to me. First is the American life expectancy being 29^th in the nation I knew we weren’t number one (had a feeling Japan or China would be first) but 29^th never crossed my mind. Second was the average life expectancy between countries in the USA is 15 years I was thinking along the lines of five years. Third was the question about the parking space difference in predominately white neighborhood and Black and Latino neighborhood. Though something like these never crossed my mind but knowing the information now it’s shocking. Last was a surprising statistic at first but when I really thought about it made sense is the best factor for health is wealth.  When you have money it’s easier for you stay health since you can afford it.

When the bough breaks is an episode which scrutinizes the phenomenon that African American women normally are significantly more likely to give birth to premature babies or have babies that are low in weight than white. Two neonatologists talk about how exposure to racism can have a factor on health. Even when factors like income and education are the same African American still give birth prematurely or have low weight babies. This episode shows and example of African American woman is a successful woman in good health but still had her baby two and a half months early.

Politics, economics, environment, culture, biology and individual choice influence the development can help the blowout and treatment of illness. In when the bough breaks talks about have racism is the reason African American woman have premature or low birth weights babies. In the USA we did not have universal health care as in other countries they do I believe politics play a major role in it. Since we don’t have universal health is harder for people who cannot afford healthcare and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare to go to the doctor to get better. Some cultures believe don’t believe in going to a doctor to get help them have their own way to treat it. This also goes hand and hand with an individual’s choice not to receive care for the treatment of their illness.